Taxonomic study of the genus Diolcogaster Ashmead (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from Borneo with the description of four new species

To the Editor: Natural history museum collections have evolved in recent years to meet the challenges of current and future interdisciplinary scientific studies. Many natural history museums have built tissue collections and made digital information (e.g., photographs, publications, geographic coordinates) freely available on the Internet. These collections provide endless opportunities to conduct studies, including temporal and spatial surveys of emerging and reemerging pathogens (1). We report an example of a museum collection being useful in detecting Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, in the southern plains woodrat (Neotoma micropus) in southern Texas. This finding is of interest in the epidemiology of Chagas disease because the climatic characteristics and demographics of the region are similar to areas in Latin America where Chagas disease is an important zoonotic agent that infects ≈20 million persons (2). Tissue samples from N. micropus woodrats archived in the Natural Science Research Laboratory at the Museum of Texas Tech University were evaluated for T. cruzi DNA by PCR methods. All samples were originally collected during March 2001–June 2003 from the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in southern Texas (28o18′N, 99o24′W), 86 km west of the Mexico–US border; some samples had been used previously in other research projects (3). Individual rodents were captured with live traps (n = 13) or by excavating middens in which all the nest occupants were collected by hand (n = 146). Animals were later euthanized and tissue samples (heart, kidney, liver, lung, muscle, spleen) were obtained. Tissues were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and permanently stored in ultralow-temperature freezers. We extracted 1 DNA sample from each animal’s liver for use in this survey. DNA amplification was performed by using primers specific to T. cruzi (TCZ1 and TCZ2) (4) under previously standardized conditions and positive controls (5). T. cruzi DNA was detected in 42 (26.4%) of 159 woodrat samples tested. Males were infected significantly more often (31/82) than females (11/73); sex was not determined for 4 individuals (Score test for a binomial proportion, z = –4.0, p<0.01). Adults had a nonsignificant higher prevalence (24/92) than all other individuals in the remaining age categories combined (14/54) (age was not determined for 13 individuals) (Score test for a binomial proportion, z = –0.02, p = 0.98). Middens that harbored infected individuals (n = 28, mean = 1.8) were not significantly (t = 0.79, df = 84, p = 0.43) more populated than middens that harbored uninfected individuals (n = 58, mean = 1.6). Woodrats had been shown by using microscopy to be infected by T. cruzi and T. cruzi–like organisms (6); however, no definitive DNA-based confirmation had been performed (6,7). The results of this research confirm the infection of N. micropus woodrats with T. cruzi and show a higher prevalence than that reported in previous studies that used other diagnostic methods. These results also point to woodrats as a potentially important reservoir of T. cruzi in North America. We hypothesize that the high prevalence is a consequence of the nest-building habits of these rodents. These nests are complexes of dry branches, grasses, and leaves, with a mean diameter of 84 cm, and offer easy access and permanent refuge to triatomine bugs. Woodrats have been found in association with at least 5 triatomine species: Triatoma gerstaeckeri, T. lecticularia, T. neotomae, T. protracta, and T. sanguisuga (8). Another factor for consideration is woodrats’ multigenerational midden use, which may enable the permanent occurrence of triatomine colonies and therefore maintain long-term circulation of T. cruzi. Whereas recent characterizations of North American strains have included isolates from other mammalian reservoir hosts (9), the genotyping of parasites from N. micropus woodrats and other woodrats is still to be done. Despite successful results from tracking pathogens by using material deposited in natural history museum collections (10), this practice is not common. We suggest that natural history museum collections be used more frequently, especially for surveying and genotyping T. cruzi in mammals, because of the importance of such information in clarifying the epidemiology and the evolutionary history of this pathogen.

Beryl Patricia Hall (née Woodhouse), 1917–2010

The Lost Species is a series of fascinating and unusual adventures in biological discovery. These take place not in mysterious far-flung locales, but in the dusty jars and drawers of the world’s natural history collections. The world’s museums house vast numbers of preserved biological specimens (over one billion specimens in the United States alone), of which only a tiny fraction – usually less than 5% – are on display to the public. This unseen majority, however, provides a vast “mine of information” where observant researchers can constantly “stumble upon new things.” (These discoveries are ongoing – readers may remember 2020 news reports of a “saber-toothed anchovy” found in a fossil that had been in the University of Michigan collection for over 40 years.) It turns out that museum collections are gold mines of new species waiting to be discovered, sitting on shelves or in jars for 50, 100, even 150 years without recognition. One researcher is quoted as saying, “I guarantee you there are hundreds if not thousands of yet-to-be-recognized species essentially hidden in our collections…. [T]hey’re just chock full of undescribed species.”Each chapter of The Lost Species focuses on a single biological group. Biologists scour the world’s collections making new species discoveries: land snails, a marine roly-poly, pygmy salamanders, bandicoots, African squeaker frogs, cichlids fish, and saki monkeys are all foci of individual scientists’ intense scrutiny. Each short chapter gives a snapshot of a species, a scientist, a taxonomic puzzle, and how that species furthers understanding of biology and biological processes as a whole. Although many of the specimens are small, old, hidden, or forgotten, their discovery adds to our understanding of bigger-picture topics. Ecosystems and ecological preservation, biodiversity hot spots and microhabitats, keystone species, introduced species and biological control, biomimicry, and evolution and adaptive radiation are all key to the description of each species.The Lost Species is not just about the specimens, however. Contemporary and past researchers, as well as the history and culture of the times in which they work, are central to each chapter. The progress of scientific approach and technology is evident. Revisiting specimens collected decades ago allows scientists to employ techniques such as CT scans and DNA sequencing that were unavailable to the original collectors. Science appears in action, both as dogged persistence (biologists visiting dozens of museums around the world in pursuit of individual specimen samples) and as serendipity (the discovery of two halves of a tiny beetle stored separately for almost a century, which, finally untied, allowed for description of a new species). Biological chance is evident, as species become extinct in the wild, existing only as preserved specimens in the depths of museums – having a “second life as a representative.” Even the museums are threatened, and as collections become deactivated or closed through lack of funding, collections become inaccessible for further research.Although stemming from musty shelves and aging specimens, this is far from a dusty read. Indeed, any teacher or student interested in biology, ecology, evolution, and the history and process of science will find adventure and discovery in the pages of The Lost Species.

Museum of life

Materials on the findings of birch-mice in Ukraine are extremely incomplete and require verification, so estimates of the relative abundance of species and their distribution are made on the basis of collections of both academic collections of Ukraine: State Museum of Natural History (SMNH) and National Science Museum (NMNH), NAS of Ukraine. Collections of birch-mice accumulated in the DPM and NMNH for the entire period of its zoological collections are analyzed: according to the actual dates, the material covers the period 1928–1999 (several series of samples are attributed by funders as “1900–1915”, without explanation, in all cases such dates refer to collection of O. Browner). In total, there are 86 specimens of 4 species, forming two species groups. In general, the detailed records of 26 specimens of S. betulina, 12 of S. strandi, 6 of S. severtzovi, and 43 of S. loriger are described. For the latter species, the records are presented for three separate series: east (22) and west (14) of the Dnipro, and the Crimea (4). Each find is given with all the important details (collection, numbers, sample types, location, date, collector), and appropriate comments are given for all problem data: species identification, data publication, location, date or collector. The state of collections and the state of records about them is such that the number of clarifications significantly exceeds the number of records. Therefore, the use of published catalogs (especially the catalog of mammals of NMNH) is highly not recommended: in fact, all records require corrections related to problems of incorrect rewriting of primary label information, and its incorrect interpretation. In fact, this work is the first attempt to revize the available materials, but the audit is not complete due to the inability to review all samples and all primary labels simultaneously. Analysis of the distribution of specimens by months of the year showed that all species were collected mainly in May to July (67,8 % specimens), and the whole peak of seasonal activity, judging by the collection dates, covers 6 months and lasts from April to September. The issue of supplementing the collections is considered. The peak of the most massive filling fell on the 1920th, 1940th and 1980th (about 20–25 specimens were collected).

In this article, environmental and climate practices in science and natural history museums in Türkiye are presented and discussed. While environmental and climate problems are global issues, they have local roots. As environmental issues are related to human activities and museums play a societal role, it is important to examine practices and approaches of museums in relation to the environment. Operations and practices of natural history and science museums in Türkiye, including educational activities, are important elements in communicating the risks of vulnerable environmental issue. This study outlines the environmental practices of the science and natural history museums of Türkiye which are commonly accepted as reliable providers of information to engage with audiences for action towards environmental challenges. Documentary research was conducted for the study. When the environmental practices and approaches are reviewed, it is seen that natural history museums function basically as research areas. Still, they have public education roles and organize educational activities about natural history, biodiversity and environment. While public education is one of the roles of natural history museums besides their conventional functions like collecting, conserving, researching and exhibiting, science centers are institutions dedicated to public education. Since science centers are mostly supported by municipalities, it can be said that they operate in a more sustainable and holistic way. Also, it is seen that their environmental reach-out programs offer a wider range. Based on data, we claim that collaboration with municipalities has an effect on the environmental activities and perspectives of museums. Also, climate-context works encourage museum community to make interdisciplinary works across the world. By presenting the current environmental and climate practices in natural history and science museums in Türkiye, it is aimed that the article can provide collaboration among institutions and advance the discussions among museums in the context of environment and climate.

The type specimens of 42 cheilostome bryozoan species introduced by Lars Siln between 1938 and 1954 and housed at three different Swedish institutions (the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, the Biological Museum in Lund and the Museum of Evolution in Uppsala) are here revised using scanning electron microscopy, with two exceptions, for the first time. As a result of this revision, new morphological observations were made for some species, such as ooecia in Antropora erecta, a costal pseudopore in Jullienula hippocrepis, intracolonial variation in the number of intracostal windows in Costaticella gisleni, and oral spines in Triphyllozoon mauritzoni. Some other observations confirmed the presence of structures/polymorphs in type material that had previously only been noted in non-type specimens, such as spinose interzooidal kenozooids in Retevirgula triangulata and putative brooding zooids in Bugulina kiuschiuensis. Structures originally interpreted as hydroid tube openings on the dorsal side of Triphyllozoon microstigmatum were confirmed to be avicularia, while the supposed kenozooidal attachment rootlet of Fedora nodosa might be the polypide tube of a coronate scyphozoan. In addition, the original combination Heliodoma goesi is here reinstated after Lagaaij assigned the species to Setosellina in 1963. The following new combinations are also proposed: Labioporella aviculifera for Siphonoporella aviculifera; Mangana canui and Mangana incrustata for Callopora canui and Tegella incrustata, respectively; Sphaerulobryozoon ovum for Fedora ovum. Lectotypes were selected when appropriate. This work clarifies the exact identity of some species that have never been recorded after their first description, such as Stylopoma magnovicellata and three species of Triphyllozoon, and contributes to the current increasing effort to digitize historical key specimens in natural history museum collections.

A review of collection samples of mammals received from the territory of Belarus (within its modern borders) and stored in natural museums of Ukraine is given. Information on the materials of 5 museums is summarized – Dybowski Zoological Museum at Lviv National University (ZMD), Zoological Museum of Kyiv National University (ZMKU), Museum of Nature at the Kharkiv University (MNKU), State Natural History Museum of NASU (Lviv, SNHM) and National Museum of Natural History of NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, NMNH). Within the latter, two (out of three available) collections were studied – the collections of the Department of Zoology (NNPM-z) and the Department of Museology (NNPM-m). Samples from Belarus were found in the collections of ZMD (5 specimens), SMNH (2 sp.), NMNH-z (68 sp.), NMNH-p (36 sp.), NMNH-m (7 sp.), MNKU (3 sp.). In total, there are 121 specimens of 13 mammal species in the collections. The number of samples is dominated by rodents, in particular Spermophilus suslicus (61 sp.), Sus scrofa (31 sp.) and Sylvaemus tauricus (7 sp.). Ancient specimens predominate (1885–1915), among which specimens from the collection of O. Brauner (NNPM) dominate. Certain groups of mammals appear in collections only in the last period of accumulation of collections, in particular murine rodents (collections of the 1990s). The largest number of samples was collected in the southern and western regions of Belarus within the Brest, Minsk, Grodno and Gomel oblasts. The most diverse are the collections from the vicinities of Mozyr in the Gomel oblast, mostly samples from the Brauner's collections of 1900–1915, which are now stored in the NNPM. The oldest are the samples of the black rat (Rattus rattus) from the collections of Benedykt Dybowski in 1885 in the family estates of Vojnov and Niankov of the Novogrudok district of the Grodno oblast. The most valuable is a sample of 61 skulls of ground squirrels Spermophilus odessanus (suslicus s. lato), collected during 1947–1954 in different districts of Brest, Grodno and Minsk oblasts. The series Sylvaemus tauricus from Central Polissia (7 sp.), collected in the 1990-1995 and transferred to the NNPM, is also significant.

Natural history museum collections can be a helpful tool in documenting changes in biodiversity throughout decades or even centuries. This article uncovers information on the content of three different museum collections, collected over 100 years. It deepens the knowledge on the distribution of pyraloid moth species occurring predominantly in the Continental parts of Croatia, but also in other areas of this country. The article presents the first published listing of pyraloid moth species held in three museum collections of the Croatian Natural History Museum in Zagreb. The list contains 148 taxa in total, 61 from the Igalffy collection, 96 from the Koča collection, and 96 from the Kučinić collection. Altogether, 96 species from the family Crambidae and 52 species from the family Pyralidae are listed.

The United Kingdom's Natural History Museum (NHM) AI Lab Programme represents a pioneering initiative aimed at harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to bridge the gap between the museum's extensive collection and cutting-edge AI technologies. Despite its immense potential, the application of AI in museum research remains nascent (e.g., He et al. 2024), with some individual research groups pursuing independent projects without cohesive collaboration with AI experts who know or have experience in similar endeavours. Moreover, differing standards in utilising AI among researchers add complexity to the field. The NHM AI Lab Programme addresses these challenges by co-creating AI pilot projects that bring together the NHM's collection, academic researchers, and AI experts. The NHM AI Lab Programme serves as a nexus for interdisciplinary collaboration, offering expertise in AI, machine learning, data science, and software engineering to support NHM researchers. Through one-to-one consultations and collaborative research projects, the NHM AI Lab Programme facilitates the integration of innovative AI-driven technologies into streamlining digitisation workflows and enhancing Earth and Life Science research at the NHM. In less than a year since its inception, our Programme has achieved several milestones, hosting around 20 diverse projects. These include research projects such as the application of AI for the automatic detection and identification of nannofossils in chalk, the classification of ancient shark and dinosaur teeth, the prediction of mammal disease outbreaks, and the extraction of data from historical bird egg records. Additional projects focus on the automation of mineral analysis and the detection of secondary impact craters on planetary surfaces using AI. Some led to journal publications (e.g., He et al. 2024), while others streamlined NHM researchers' workflows, enhancing their processes of research and digitisation. Moreover, several initiatives have paved the way for new funding streams and collaborative ventures, as well as promising commercial prospects. Certain projects have pioneered the creation or transformation of datasets to meet AI-ready standards, such as data quality, consistency, accessibility, usability, and data governance protocols, helping to embed AI practices into NHM research. This AI Lab Programme can act as a model for other institutions addressing a similar challenge of bridging the gap between AI and their research and collections. This presentation provides insights into the establishment and operation of the NHM AI Lab Programme, shares experiences, highlights successful collaborations, discusses challenges encountered, and outlines future directions.

The role of natural history collections in documenting species declines

Prof. Arthur Looss (1861-1923) was a prolific German parasitologist, who, among other things, authored descriptions of 22 new species of nematodes and 115 new species of trematodes. After his death, his collection (including type material) was split between several institutions: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington (USA), Natural History Museum in Berlin and the Natural History Museum in Leipzig (Germany), Gothenburg Museum of Natural History and Swedish Museum of Natural History (Sweden). Here we revise all type specimens of nematodes from the A. Looss collection that are currently preserved in the Swedish Museum of Natural History (Strongylus subtilis, Sclerostomum edentatum, S. vulgare, Cyathostomum labratum, C. coronatum, C. bicoronatum, C. calicatum, C. alveatum, C. catinatum, C. nassatum, C. radiatum, C. elongatum, C. auriculatum, Triodontus minor, T. serratus, C. labiatum and Uncinaria polaris), designate and describe lectotypes wherever deemed necessary and provide catalogue access numbers to all type materials. We also revise all notes and drawings associated with new species that A. Looss described and provide previously unpublished pencilled sketches and ink print-ready drawings of some of these species (Strongylus subtilis, Cyathostomum poculatum, C. radiatum, C. elongatum, C. calicatum, C. auriculatum, Triodontus serratus, Trichostrongylus vitrinus and possibly Necator africanus).

Museum visitors and non-visitors in Germany: A representative survey

Recommandations pour la pratique clinique

In 1844, the celebrated Dutch author Everhardus Johannes Potgieter (1808-1875) published his criticism of the Rijksmuseum (national museum) in De Gids , which at the time was the most important cultural periodical. The chapter describes the exceptional situation in the Netherlands regarding history and art - and thus museums - and sketch the history of the Dutch national art museums in Amsterdam and The Hague until 1844. The first national museum - the Nationale Konst-Gallerij (national art gallery) - opened its doors in May 1800. It was housed in the west wing of a former palace of the princes of Orange, Huiten Bosch (house in the wood), near The Hague. During the Kingdom of Holland (1806-1810) - under Louis Napoleon, the brother of Napoleon - the national museum's collection was moved from The Hague to Amsterdam, where it was housed on the third floor of the Royal Palace and called the Royal Museum. Keywords: Amsterdam; De Gids ; Everhardus Johannes Potgieter; Louis Napoleon; national museum; Nationale Konst-Gallerij; Rijksmuseum; Royal Museum; The Hague